The pitfalls of "mental tests" / by Charles S. Myers.

  • Myers, Charles S. (Charles Samuel), 1873-1946.
Date:
[1911?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The pitfalls of "mental tests" / by Charles S. Myers. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    THE CHARLES MYERS library The Pitfalls of “ Mental Tests.” By CHARLES S. MYERS, M.D., ScD. Lecturer on Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge. In this country at least psychology seems likely to suffer from the same dangers of popularization as have for years past been affecting anthropology. Just as it has been widely supposed that only a printed book of instruc¬ tions and queries need be read for an amateur to sally forth into the field and collect reliable physical measure¬ ments or trustworthy evidence of social organization, so there appears to be starting a belief that no special course of training is necessary in order to conduct on a large scale investigations of a psychological nature. Folk are loth to recognize that the younger sciences— for example, economics, genetics, psychology, education— demand as much adequate preparation and study as the older before reliable work can be undertaken in their respective fields. Certainly every one think himself capable of discoursing and deciding about themes of psychological interest. Royal and Departmental Com¬ missions, which do not contain among their members a single psychologist are appointed to report on matters which are fundamentally of psychological concern. The psychologically untrained physician does not hesitate to pronounce on the psychology of insanity, nor the biologist on human and animal intelligence and instinct. I want to protest as strongly as I can against the notion that any useful purpose can be served, so far as psycho¬ logy is concerned, by collecting masses of psychological